Children report again and again that a frustrating aspect of fashion dolls is the time and difficulty in dressing and changing the clothing for their dolls. Attempts to overcome this have often resulted in clothing that lacks the realism and style of the best fabric garments.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,932 provides a doll dress up set in which garments include two separate halves that can be coupled together on either side of the doll. However, the use of two separate halves can be undesirable because one of the two halves may be easily lost or misplaced by a child.
US 2010/0041301 to Phillips attempts to resolve the problem of separate parts by providing an article of doll clothing having two sections joined by a clasp wherein the article can be clipped onto a doll by compressing protrusions extending from the clasp. However, the requirement of protruding members to operate the clasp is undesirable because the doll clothing does not approximate the appearance of real clothing due to these protrusions. While Phillips camouflages the protruding members in the clasp region as butterfly wings, the protrusions would be unsightly in doll clothing that does not have similar wing-like appendages.
Other attempts to provide doll clothing, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,333,634, have been more successful in providing suitable doll clothing. For example, this document discloses a hinged frame that can be attached to fabric garments and mounted onto a doll. However, there continues to be a need for additional devices and play sets that permit garments to be quickly mounted onto or removed from figurines such as dolls, without difficulty or unsightly protrusions.